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It’s that time of the year again! Busy malls, crowded streets, and home décor. We all know the holidays can sometimes be overwhelming and stressful. Home décor should be least of your worries, and we are here to help you! Want to know a few easy ways to bring holiday cheer throughout your home? Follow these tips below:

Great News! Missed our Cyber Monday sale? No need to worry. We have extended our sale to December 15th so you can stock up on window coverings for less! We also added an extra 40% off on select BlindsOnTime shades. Shop ’til you drop!

Ah, cornucopias… a classic Thanksgiving centerpiece and symbol representing abundance. If you are thinking of approaching the holiday with a traditional feel, this is the way to go. Most flower shops carry them already made, but you can also make them yourself. Just buy a woven or iron cornucopia and fill it with your choice of fall flowers, leaves, and berry picks. You can also make it look more rustic by placing it on an antique silver tray and filling it using gourds, squash, and dried corn. Make sure it looks like it’s overflowing with harvest!

Earth-toned and comfy, candles do a magnificent job in turning any space into a cozy retreat. This is a great way to welcome your family to the dinner table. You can place a few orange candles on vertical candleholders, and add some autumn flowers to a block of oasis to create an elegant Thanksgiving centerpiece. The flowers can stretch as wide as you want to be proportional to your table. Another idea is buying glass votives in different shapes and sizes, placing white candles inside, and filling the votives with small acorns, dried corn kernels, or whatever you like! Keeping the candles white will allow for contrast between the candles and the filling of your choice. A simpler way to use candles as a centerpiece is taking a variety of warm colored candles, placing them on a long candle tray, and wrap some berry picks around them.

First thing that pops into my head when I think of fall is pumpkins! They are also a well-known symbol of the fall season and Thanksgiving. People place pumpkins outside their homes as decoration, and you can also bring them inside as your centerpiece! This is an easy and stress-free way to bring autumn onto your table. Place them on a tray or a basket with different colors and sizes, fill the tray or basket with a few leaves or acorns and you’re done! You can also stack them from biggest to smallest as the main part of the centerpiece and spread the smaller ones around the table with candles. Wrap some pumpkins with dried vine for some extra flair!

If you are looking for a unique way to decorate your dinner table this Thanksgiving, Wheat will be sure to spark a conversation during the meal. This is a gorgeous way to add some height to the table. Just take a bundle of wheat stocks, and wrap them with ribbon and there you have it! You can have a large one in the middle followed by two smaller ones, or you can have just one in the center with candles spread around. It is affordable, flexible, quick, and beautiful.

Hope these Thanksgiving centerpiece ideas from Blinds On Time inspired you to create your very own centerpiece. You free to combine and dismantle these ideas into your own design. Share some of your finished centerpiece photos with us and inspire other people this Thanksgiving. Gobble, Gobble!

Deciding between faux vs wood blinds can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming. There are many different kinds of styles and materials, but the two most commonly used are faux wood and real wood blinds.

What are “faux” blinds, anyway? Faux is a French word meaning imitation. They can resemble the look of real wood blinds in your home, but offer different benefits. Real wood blinds became popular in America since the Colonial times when fabric from Europe was expensive and heavily taxed. Now it seems it is the other way around!

The choice to include faux wood or real wood blinds in your home depends on where you live and what characteristics you are looking for. Here are some pros and cons of each to help you:

Pros:

Look real – Most people cannot tell the difference unless you point it out.

Affordable – They are made from composites (like pressed wood boards), vinyl, or other kinds of materials, making them inexpensive to produce.

Easy to maintain – No need to worry about buying special cleaners or varnish! Just wipe clean with average cleaning solvents, or with simple soap and water.

Do not warp or crack – Humidity and temperature will not tamper with the stability or look of the blinds, especially if they are vinyl.

Lightweight – Because they are less dense than real wood, faux wood blinds do great with spanning across large windows.

Cons:

Generic – The imprinted wood grains on faux wood blinds are all the same. Nature is unique, and a factory is not.

Limited color – The special finish does not allow you to paint your blinds. If your blinds are out of style and want to change them, you have to buy new ones.

Can break – If you have children or pets that mess with vinyl faux wood blinds, sometimes (because they are so thin) they can break or bend.

Pros:

Elegant – Wood gives the space a warm ambiance and elegant look. Easy way to spruce up a room without a big effort.

Change of look – Tired of seeing the same boring white wood blinds? Paint or stain them! The beauty of these blinds is you can paint or stain them whichever color you wish to be included in any design.

Unique – Nature’s unique work of art will create gorgeous, one-of-a-kind grains into each slat.

Cons:

Expensive – Not only are they expensive to buy (depending on the wood), but they are also expensive to maintain! You cannot clean real wood blinds with just soap and water, you have to buy a special solvent or else they will warp.

Warping and cracking – Warm temperatures expand wood, while cold temperatures contract wood, sometimes causing the wood to crack or warp. This is especially evident with less expensive types of wood.

Heavy – Large windows with real wood blinds can be heavy and sometimes are difficult to raise and lower. The stress can sometimes break the inner chords.

These two contenders are great options for your home. Keep these benefits and drawbacks in mind before you buy. If you have children or pets that can damage to your blinds, or you do not have time to maintain your blinds, then the more affordable and maintenance-free faux wood blinds would be best. If your home needs a more stylish, and warm look, then real wood is the one for you.

Remember to get your blinds just in time for Thanksgiving with Blinds On Time’s fall sale! It ends Sunday at midnight.

Ask your child what they like. Most parents automatically assume that their little girl will want a bright pink room with all things glittery, and that their little boy will want a bold blue room with cars and sports gear. Sometimes, that is not the case. By including your kid in the design process, you make them feel important and excited for their new room.

Use a neutral color palette with color accents. Your children will change as the years pass, and so will their room. Take what your child wants and tone it down a notch. If your boy really loves the color orange, choose a rusty orange instead of one that is bold and bright, and incorporate it into a neutral color palette such as beige or a light brown. The same concept applies if you have a little girl. If she likes lavender, choose a soft lavender as the accent color, and grey or white as the main neutral color palette. Below are some examples to help you:

Invest in timeless furniture. Your child’s room will be with them for their entire childhood, adolescence, and maybe for their young adulthood if they decide to stay home for college, or come back after they graduate. With that in mind, purchase furniture that will fit your children as adults. Try to stay away from trendy furniture. They might go out of style in a few years, and the room will look dated. Rather than spending money on a twin sized bed, and later on a full or queen, invest your money now and skip the twin bed.

Maximize storage to maximize space. Kids have tons of toys, and they always seem to be lying around everywhere. With storage, your kids can take out their toys, play, and put them back where they were leaving their room with more space to run around when you play monster with them. A good idea would be to buy a cubed storage shelf and fill the cubbies with baskets to put their toys or colors in. Then when they get older, it can be used as a bookshelf. Another idea would be to get a cushioned bench, place it below a window and put the baskets below. You can also buy a bed frame with drawers below the mattress like in this photo from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child:

Let the accessories show their age. Room accessories are affordable and easier to change throughout the years. For example, if your son really likes cowboys, buy a few framed western wall art pieces, western-style bedding, and some wood blinds from our website. When your son grows up, all that needs to be changed is the bedding, and the western wall art and stars can be taken down or replaced to whatever he wants! The same applies for girls. Focus on the bedding, wall art, and window treatments.

These simple tips will help you save money, stress less, and keep their rooms organized. Take a look at our Pinterest for some more inspirational ideas. Happy decorating!